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Well, I had a fun day...

...yesterday. We were given a pre-evacuation order because of the Goodwin Fire in Prescott Valley. This means you stash the important stuff where you can load it quickly into your car when/if they give the evacuation notice, and make sure you have a piece of white cloth ready to tie to your door so the first responders know that you're gone.
The Three Ps (Papers, Pills, Pets) don't include what's most important to me: the computer I'm writing books on! The papers and pills can be replaced (but not, I admit, Pyewacket). I've done this once before, at the house in Flagstaff, and I've thought a lot about the "What do I take?" question since. My sister had a duffel bag of clothing, for instance, but had to be reminded about the Photographs--the fourth P, methinks, after you've taken care of the first three. The fifth, for me, is the Paintings. As for the sixth--can I categorize my jewelry as "Pretties"?
Anyway, the stand-down came at about 9 this morning, so we're having fun today putting everything back--this time in places where we can get at it a lot faster than yesterday!
I would encourage everybody to take a few minutes to think about what they'd take in such circumstances--wildfire, earthquake, tornado, hurricane, natural or manmade disaster--and do a bit or organizing, maybe make a list. It really does help.
Arizona's firefighters are the best in the universe. I bow down to them in humble gratitude.

I have had to go through that once before- about a month offer we finalized the purchase on our house, some careless jackoff lit fire by accident to the powerline service road behind our house, but up about two miles. I was (and still am) furious about that.

I packed a bugout bag of clothes for my husband and I, kept the cats locked in a room where I could wrangle them into a carrier quickly, and packed the car to the brim. It was the most intense and not-fun game of Tetris that I have ever played. Both computer towers, our paintings (by my husbands great grandfather) the first book my husband bought me ever (piers Anthony "Castle Roogna" when we were dating in high school fifteen years ago, lol) my small box of jewelry, followed by a quick stuffing of the nooks and crannies with anything little, sentimental or practical I could think about.

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“You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”~ Jack London

I was affected by the same fire, Melanie. They closed our campground on Senator Highway, and we were trying to figure what where to take all the junior highs we were expecting. Luckily, they reopened in time.

Whew.

The last day of camp, I was awakened by smoke, and I'm having a whole self-conversation about the legitimacy of banging on the camp manager's door demanding information. [Sigh] It was fine, obviously.

I was affected by the same fire, Melanie. They closed our campground on Senator Highway, and we were trying to figure what where to take all the junior highs we were expecting. Luckily, they reopened in time.

Whew.

The last day of camp, I was awakened by smoke, and I'm having a whole self-conversation about the legitimacy of banging on the camp manager's door demanding information. [Sigh] It was fine, obviously.